American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

American Express (NYSE:AXP) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $317.09 and last traded at $317.36, with a volume of 213895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $312.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 1.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $224.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $299.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.78.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. American Express's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.